'What in the heavens... why can't I remember a thing!?' His brows furrowed as he realized that after coming out of the elevator last night, he couldn't recall entering his unit.
Making things even weirder was the sight of a half-eaten egg sandwich on his bedside table and an empty glass that he assumed once held milk. Had he sleepwalked and made this mess? He didn't have time to contemplate further, because when he saw the clock, he knew he was in for one hell of a scolding from Mr. Santino.
He wasn't the boss, but he acted like he owned the place. That man was just waiting for him to mess up. The boy's black orbs turned cold for a second before returning to their usual dullness.
"Cave did his best to extricate himself from his lumpy bed, which had suddenly become excessively comfortable. He wanted to sleep more, but he couldn't. His debt and daily expenses wouldn't allow it.
After making the bed, he attended to his bathroom business. But when he looked at himself in the full-length mirror beside his closet, he noticed something wrong with his face. He gazed at it more closely and touched his face with his pale, skeleton-like hands.
He traced his face until his thin fingers reached his lips. His usually pale and cracked lips now appeared more lively than ever. They were plump and red like cherries, and he felt a sharp pain as if they had been bitten by a cockroach.
"Damn..." Horror was evident on his face as realization dawned on him, although his understanding was completely wrong.
He arrived at work that very morning looking like a gloomy vegetable. Even the old man, Mr. Santinao, didn't have the heart to bully him or scold him for being ten minutes late. He appeared even gloomier than usual, leaving his co-workers unable to approach him.
'The damn cockroach will definitely feel the power of my slippers when I get back. I should have killed it the first time we crossed paths. My poor lips have suffered due to my negligence; I won't spare it this time.' A raging madness ignited from Cave's innocent heart, and the cockroach in his unit suddenly felt cold, seeming to sense its impending doom.
After many hours of working, it was finally time to go home.
"Oi!" Cave saw an old man waving at him from the entrance of the condominium. He jogged his way to the old man and saw that it was actually the security guard.
"G...good evening!" He greeted shyly, but it seemed the security guard misunderstood him, as terror could be seen on his old face.
'This young man is really intimidating. Kids these days are scary,' the poor old man gulped and forced himself to calm down.
"Have you heard about the murderer going around the neighborhood?" the security guard whispered, his eyes growing big as if to convey to the young man that he's not messing around.
"Ahm, no?" Cave said, unsure of the conversation's direction. The security guard slapped his knee, which made the boy flinch a little.
"Now that you've heard, I suggest that you should come back a little earlier from now on. The authority said that the murderer spares no one. We should be more careful if we don't want to end up becoming the next victim on the news," the security guard said ominously, his face leaning dangerously close to Cave's, which made the latter guess that the old man had just eaten sardines.
"I... understand," the black-haired boy said, trying his best not to breathe.
"It's good that you understand. I'll get going now." After making sure that the boy had taken his advice seriously, he finally left while murmuring incoherent words.
Cave finally arrived at his floor but his head started hurting. He almost fell to his knees, yet fortunately, he was able to hold onto the railings. It was very quiet and everyone was probably resting in their units.
However, a sweet voice cut through the silence of the night. "Ah, are you okay?" Cave was looking at the ground when a person suddenly crouched in front of him. It was a person with flocks of fluffy brown hair. He got startled when the person looked up at him, and he was met with big blue eyes.
They were the prettiest pair of eyes he had ever seen. The person below him smiled, but his eyes were full of concern.
'Why is this pretty person looking at me like that?' Cave was confused, but another wave of headache terrorized him, making him frown and stagger backwards. His back was now leaning on the railings, and he put his hands on his head in an attempt to ease the pain.
The stranger in front of him stood up and put both of his hands on the railings, cornering the black-haired boy between his arms.
"It's alright, I'll help you," the pretty person said, but Cave was only staring at his eyes. They were too captivating, making him unable to process whatever was happening in his surroundings.
When the person noticed this, an uncontrollable smile made its way to his face, making him even more beautiful in Cave's eyes. Since he was shorter than Cave by a few centimeters, he had to tiptoe first before he was able to kiss his forehead.
And just like magic, the throbbing headache was gone. However, there was no way Cave would notice the change when all his attention was on the pretty stranger who had kissed him on the forehead.
The usual empty eyes were now filled with wonder as the culprit, who also made his heart beat a little faster, looked at him innocently. His head was slightly tilted to the right, with a small smile playing on their lips.
'Just who is this lovely person?' Cave thought. The stranger must have read his mind, as he reached out his hand and introduced himself. "My name is Hani, by the way. Your turn," the person, now identified as Hani, said.
'Even his name sounds so sweet.' A small blush crept onto his face as he caught himself thinking of the other person while they were still talking.
'But wait, what should I do?' He had been in situations where he needed to introduce himself to other people, and he always ended up either scaring them off or making them feel that he was uninteresting.
Honestly, those people didn't matter to him. He didn't mind if they found him weird, boring or scary. However, he wanted to impress this person. He was different from those people. The way he looked at him was not scornful nor judging. But perhaps he had been overly confident in his conversational skills. The moment he opened his mouth, he became a stuttering mess.
"Ah... I...am C... ave..." he breathed heavily. "I... am g...ood, n..not a b...ad per...person." The black-haired boy felt dreadful. He had messed up again. Surely, this person would think he was weird.
Without waiting for a response, Cave scurried to the door of his unit. He was embarrassed by the way he spoke and afraid that the person's warm eyes would turn cold the next time he looked at him. He was about to turn the knob when a pair of arms hugged him from behind.
His body stiffened, his eyes turning into saucers. He put his hand on his chest, feeling the shameful fact that his heart was beating faster and faster as time went by.
"Hey, It's okay now," came that sweet voice again, but now it sounded softer, as if trying to coax a child.
"W...what? All of a sudden..." Due to his pale skin, he couldn't hide it—all of his face, ears, and neck were as red as the tomatoes in his fridge.
"The introduction was good. It's all good so don't run away," the person, who was hugging him from behind, said. His voice was muffled, yet Cave could understand him perfectly. His words were comforting, but why was his heartbeat becoming more erratic?
"I... Is it? Ahm, I'm g...glad," Cave said, still stuttering.
"Hmm, but why won't you face me? Do I look unpleasant to you?" The voice that held the warmness of spring had now turned as cold as winter. With no options left, Cave nervously turned around.
Cave looked at him shyly, feeling the urge to tease the taller guy grow exponentially. But he held it in, not wanting to scare this cute and sensitive person. Reluctantly, he let go of him.
"Haa, it's getting late and you must be tired by now. Let's have a chat next time, shall we?" Hani said with a bright smile on his face.
"Y... yes, of course," Cave said, almost in a whisper. He was happy that the other party was willing to talk to him again, but at the same time, he felt shy and embarrassed by his feelings.
"And if you want, you can also visit me in my unit..." He winked like a prince charming, earning another blush from Cave, "... I'm the new tenant in room 25. I hope we get along well from now on."
When the person finally left, a question popped into Cave's mind. If he was in room 25, what was he doing on the third floor when he was supposed to be on the second? Was he familiarizing himself with the condominium's layout, or was he unable to sleep and decided to take a walk around? Cave made a mental note to warn him about the murderer when they talked the next day.
However, fatigue quickly set in and pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. His body felt sore as he kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed like a starfish.
That night, a certain cockroach felt a sense of relief, as the feeling of impending doom had finally dissipated.